TX ban on abortion funding reinstated

A federal appeals court has blocked an order by a federal judge in Austin, Texas, to resume funding Planned Parenthood.

Texas’ legislature voted last year to block use of tax dollars for medical services for poor women for any organization associated with abortion — meaning Planned Parenthood lost funding. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered the state to resume funding Planned Parenthood, saying there is sufficient evidence that the law banning the abortion-provider from the state’s Women’s Health Program is unconstitutional.